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Cecil Gershwin Palmer
Personality Cecil is the serious yet cheerful host of the community radio program. He is very fond and proud of the town of Night Vale, despite its many horrors, and will often provide comfort for the residents of the town during times of uncertainty or danger. However, he is also quick to praise the City Council, the Sheriff's Secret Police, and any of their policies, no matter how draconian. His views on many social issues seem surprisingly liberal for a police state such as Night Vale, but he will also sometimes make strong conservative statements out of the blue. His broadcasts require a tremendous amount of cognitive dissonance, as the information is often contradictory, contains impossible instructions, or is banned midway through and must be renounced. He occasionally gets in trouble with Station Management for describing things which are indescribable or discussing things that are not supposed to be discussed, and he openly worries that he might get in trouble with the police for his comments. Despite this, he remains enthusiastic about all upcoming events, even those involving death and destruction—so long as they are scheduled by the city's leaders, of course. He claims to take part in these events, though it is unclear if he is only saying that for the show or not. Sometimes, he describes events as they are occurring, despite being in the booth at the time, although it is mentioned that he often receives faxes and phone calls from listeners on events. Cecil's sense of self preservation in the face of the many horrors of Night Vale is often as questionable as that of the town's other residents and he will sometimes casually put himself in situations that could well be dangerous. Notably, in episode Subway, where he leaves the studio to board the menacing Night Vale subway system, despite the fact that he hasn't seen anyone exiting it and his Intern never returned from riding it. However, Cecil is certainly not immune to Night Vale's horrors and is also shown to be rendered utterly helpless and terrified by other events that happen to him and those he cares about. When he is stuck in Kevin's recording booth in Desert Bluffs he becomes extremely distressed by the blood and viscera all over the room. He's afraid of the doubles, especially his own and he's also described cowering under his desk while being hunted by his menacing boss(es), the Station Management. He describes the strange, vacant children that are sent to him with messages as "deeply unsettling" and seems to be nervous around them, as well as cursing his helpless position at the radio station when Carlos' life is in danger at the Bowling Alley. History Cecil very likely was born and grew up in Night Vale. It's implied that he went to school there and, recalling his perspective as a child, he briefly talks about his mother, who is described as being as strange and disconnected as the other town residents. Cecil says, "As my dear old mother used to say, ‘Mark my words, child: someday someone will kill you, and it will involve a mirror.’ I miss her so much. Where is she now?". From his perspective as a teen, he also says that his mother and brother are "gone now", sounding decidedly distrurbed and confused as to why or where, so their fate remains unknown. He had a strained relationship with his brother, who was "disappointed" with him and told him he would never make it in radio because he didn't have the right voice for it. Cecil was interested in radio hosting from a young age, and recorded himself enthusiastically imitating previous NVCR host Leonard Burton. While making these tapes, he began to see a mysterious flickering being out of the corner of his eye. Eventually he landed an internship at NVCR, and met Leonard, which led to another encounter with the flickering being that ended in Cecil screaming and choking sounds heard as he was presumably atttacked. Before episode 33, Cecil had no memory of any of these events, and what happened afterwards is unknown, as Cecil destroyed the cassettes upon hearing a recording of the attack. Cecil has some acting experience. He played Pippin in his school's avante-garde version of the musical "South Pacific." He claims to have traveled to Europe during or after college, though he is not a reliable narrator (something he realizes and mentions occasionally), and it is unclear if those events actually took place. Cecil specifically mentions the countries of Svitz, Franchia, Luftnarp and seems completely unaware that they don't actually exist anywhere in Europe. Otherwise, he has never mentioned leaving Night Vale and seems unaware of conditions outside of it. He does not have much knowledge of astronomy, as he does not know what the moon is and doesn't believe in the existence of mountains. He often doubts his own existence and the existence of other people. Relationships Cecil is deeply enamoured with Carlos, the Scientist from the very first episode, stating that he "fell in love him instantly" and frequently gushes in lyrical prose over his beautiful appearence and great intelligence on the radio, to the point of being threatened by Station Management to change topics. Cecil speaks several times on the show about asking Carlos out on a date, but Carlos always either turns him down, or doesn't seem to realise that Cecil assumes their meetings to be dates. However, at the end of episode 25, after a near-death experience, Carlos finally returns Cecil's affections and by episode 27 the two have begun dating. In episode 30, in addition to his usual list of perfections, Cecil says that Carlos also has a "penchant for sometimes chewing a little more loudly than is preferred", which could suggest possible early-days tensions in their still young relationship. He later complains that Carlos spends too much time focusing on science and "he has to learn how to put other things besides science first." It is implied that Cecil probably had been/or was about to be in a relationship with Scout Master Earl Harlan in episode 23, Eternal Scouts. He also talks about meeting with a "beautiful ashen faced young man" in Memories of Europe, with whom it's implied he was on the verge of being in a relationship with before they parted ways. He seems to have a fond friendship with Intern Dana, the only Intern he shows any prolonged concern for. They are Facebook friends and keep in contact via text and phone calls when Dana is trapped in The Dog Park and The House That Does Not Exist. It's mentioned that he used to go bowling with Old Woman Josie and the two used to play on a team together. They speak to each other like old friends, although it seems they haven't been keeping up with each other as much since the bowling alley was invaded by tiny people. He harbors a deep disgust for Desert Bluffs, presumably because of town rivalry, the Apache Tracker, for being a racist and culturally appropriative "asshole", Steve Carlsberg, for reasons yet unknown and Telly the Barber, for cutting Carlos' beautiful hair short. Trivia * He shares his first name with the narrator of the podcasts, actor and director Cecil Baldwin (pictured right), who lives in New York. As of Cassette, we know he does not share the rest of his name with the real-life Cecil. *He claimed to be fighting lyme disease during Station Management, though we haven't heard anything else about it since. *He seems to enjoy alcohol, and is mentioned getting tipsy on wine during his college days and leisurely drinking brandy (Armagnac) while on the phone to Carlos. *He's mentioned enjoying the 1965 western comedy movie Cat Ballou so much that he's unable to tear himself away and misses an important phone call. *He has admitted to owning a hamster with an unknown name, but the hamster died two weeks after being in Cecil's care. *He claims not be to a cat person but has grown very fond of Khoshekh, the floating cat in the men's bathroom at the station and he is also heard gushing over the cuteness of a cat video he saw on the Internet (presumably the YouTube famous 'Maru-chan'). Category:Characters